The present invention relates generally to lawn and garden tools and more particularly to those tools used for manually perforating the earth for aeration purposes or in preparation for introduction of seed, fertilizer, herbicides, pesticides and other matter.
It is well known to the art that perforating the earth dramatically increases the success of seeding, hydrating and adding nutrients to soil, and weeding and pest control when granular substances are used.
Spot lawn and garden perforation is well known in the art as a physically demanding and time consuming task when performed with manual tools that require physical force to puncture the earth such as rakes, hand augers, spiked or tined implements and even improvisational tools such as screwdrivers or picks.
Tools in the art specifically for lawn aeration include footwear attachments such as with U.S. Pat. No. 4,035,935 requires the user to be able to strap apparatus to their footwear and walk or stomp on the area to be aerated. There are also many dual use tools which can be used for aeration purposes such as U.S. Pat. No. 6,427,613 which requires the user to physically force the boring mechanism into the earth and can only create a minimal amount of holes at one time. A number of aeration devices are available that attach to larger machinery and are designed for larger agricultural purposes.
The following previously filed applications are referenced as they pertain to turf aeration and planting tools U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,228,400, 5,555,943, 6,223,456, and 6,467,551. However, these patents, as well as the patents above, are not believed to be pertinent to the patentability of the present application and are provided merely for an understanding of the background and deficiencies of the prior art.
Most of the current inventions available for spot lawn aeration and soil preparation for introduction of matter require physical force from the user and some have complicated moving mechanical parts that become dogged with use. Prior inventions also require physical strain of the user when the implements get stuck in the earth and have to be dislodged by pushing, pulling and yanking motions.
There is a great usefulness for a soil aeration and perforation device that is simple, effective and can be used even by persons of limited physical capacity.